Thank You
by Misbegotten Misfit
Summary: After Axel duels the Supreme King and uses Jim's eye to save Jaden it is revealed that the Supreme King is still in control. The reason why is devastating to Jaden's friends: Its their fault. Zane, Aster, and Syrus have to try to make amends with their friend before Jaden will even consider returning to them as well track down Jesse and find their way out of Dark World.


**auth0r's n0te: the start 0f a new st0ry i will likely never finish. i was rewatching yugi0h gx recently and i have really been n0ticing h0w jaden's friends turn int0 c0mplete jerks in seas0n three and d0 n0thing but blame him. even his ap;parent best friend turns 0n him. this st0ry will pick up at the end 0f epis0de 143/beginning 0f epis0de 144. at the p0int where axel ties in his duel with the supreme king. the name 0f the st0ry c0mes fr0m the title 0f the s0ng "thank y0u" by simple plan. f0rgive me if it is n0t very g00d.**

* * *

It was directly after the duel between Axel and The Supreme King. While Axel had dissolved into star dust the unconscious form of the king remained laying on the floor of his room in his castle. In the room also stood syrus, zane, aster and ojama yellow, watching the unmoving body with an air of caution. Axel had told them before his death that the artifact he had used had brought their friend back.

Meanwhile, in the mindspace of the armored teen a small red orb floated down to meet a dull-eyed boy in a red jacket, shattering the various mirrors that hung on seemingly nothing in this dark space. The orb floated around the boy and a voice with an Australian accent said with a slight echo following each word, "Jaden. It's time to go home. The darkness in you has been defeated."

The boy in the red jacket closed his eye and grew unbalanced on his feet, falling back as he passed out. He was caught by a dark-haired man in a vest and hat with bandages over one eye. The man was smiling. A red light enveloped the two and they vanished within it.

Back in the room in the palace the floating ojama asked, "What happened?"

"They each ran out of life points in the end. Both Axel and the darkness in Jaden were sent to the stars." Aster explained while Zane approached the body.

The teal-haired pro duelist knelt and lifted up the mask portion on the armored helm his unconscious friend wore, musing, "Let's hope so…"

Zane removed the helm and moved to the open doors out to the balcony. There he stood for all of the gathered minions to witness. He presented the helm, holding it out as he announced, "The supreme king has been beaten! Your army is defeated!"

To punctuate this he tossed the helm out into the crowd where it eventually clattered to the ground at their feet. This statement, while technically accurate, was not entirely true. The duel had ended in a tie. Neither party had actually won or lost. There was no way for the fiends to know that though so there was no need to say it. The others in the room were busying themselves removing the armor worn by the unconscious youth so that they could carry him. They all got to the balcony door and Zane summoned his cyber dark dragon to fly the group away while the fiends below were retreating. As the dragon took off the king's right hand monster arrived on the scene and shouted, "stop! Wait! What have you done?!" but it was too late. All he could do was catching a glimpse of the unconscious form of his king on the back of the dragon as it flew away into the sunrise.

After a few hours of flying the group landed on a hill with a large tree at its peak. It was here that they stopped to rest, setting up a cot to lay their still unconscious friend on. The three humans stood around the tree watching their friend. Zane was first to break the tensed silence, "We have to give him time to recover. He needs it because who know what's happened inside him."

This was a response to the worried look that syrus was giving the sleeping teen. Jaden had been his best friend. They had gotten along famously since the day they met. It had gotten rough when they arrived here in Dark World. Aster was next to speak. He asked from where he was sitting by the trunk of the tree, "so it it really true, ojama? That you saw jesse here?"

The small yellow monster floated over to the boy and answered, recounting what he had seen. He told them about jesse following him and syrus and about the strange feeling he got from the southern teen's eyes. None of them were aware of what was going on inside the mind of the black clad teen with duo toned hair that was sleeping on the cot.

A teen, the reflection of the one in reality, walked through a dark expanse, his long black coat with white trim and red cape flowing behind him, repairing the shattered remains of the several thousand mirrors that had once proudly hung here. A red light flashed a few feet to his right and he turned his piercing golden eyes towards it. In the space where the flash had taken place stood the man with the bandaged eye still carrying the boy in the red jacket. The boy looked as though he could be the golden-eyed teen's twin.

"I've been expecting you." The boy in black told him.

The man looked shocked and surprised at the sight of the other, "supreme king?! But Axel sent you to the stars!"

The supreme king shook his head, "I told you you can't destroy the darkness, you fool. Without darkness light cannot exist. Jaden is the gentle darkness, the darkness of justice. We are one in the same. Did you honestly believe that you could erase an aspect of jaden's personality that way? "

"I thought-" the man started, but the king interrupted, "no, jim, you didn't. all of you pathetic peons are so completely convinced you can solve all of life's problems simply through dueling. You never stop to consider that there might be some larger issue that requires more than just a few trading cards to fix."

Jim frowned, baring his teeth. As much as he hated the other he could not deny that the king was right. They had never stopped to wonder why he was in power or what had caused it. Well, better late than never.

"What's the problem then?" the Australian man questioned.

The supreme king turned the mirror he had been working on to face Jim, replaying the memories of their experiences from the point that they entered Dark World to the point at which Jaden had his mental breakdown and allowed the king to take over. Jim was shocked by what he witnessed.

The boy on the cot started to shift, which got the attention of those standing by the tree. The teen sat up, using his left arm to prop himself up so he did not fall and using his right middle finger and thumb to rub his temples. Zane was first to ask, "You ok, Jaden?"

"Jaden's dead." Came the reply as the supreme king stood and turned to look at the group with his piercing golden eyes. The three humans were shocked and taken aback while ojama yellow hid behind syrus. They had not expected to be face to face with the monarch they had thought was with the stars.

"but you were defeated!" aster shouted in disbelief while Zane glared at the king with a growl.

His words had really hit home with Syrus. The small boy stood there silently staring, shaking. Jaden… was dead…? "No! it can't be!" he shouted, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his fists as tears began to well up. Before he realized what he was doing he took a swing at the boy who looked like his best friend but was not while demanding, "Give him back!"

The supreme king effortlessly dodged the punch which sent the small boy tumbling to the ground due to momentum. He watched coldly as his crying former friend remained on his hands and knees sobbing.

"pathetic." The king commented with a sneer, "I hate to disappoint you but he doesn't want to come back."

"why?! Why…" Syrus continued to demand answers. He trailed off into heaving sobs. They had done so much to try to bring him back but in the end jaden had refused to return? The small blue-haired boy just could not wrap his mind around it. The king knelt beside Syrus, observing the boy with distaste. The anger and hatred he felt toward this boy was inhuman. He whispered, "because of you."


End file.
